Year A: Proper 8 | Romans 6:11-23
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
June 28, 2026
the Rev. Jonathan Hanneman
To watch the full service, please visit this page.
Last week, in his continuing discussion of the “old man” and “new man,” Paul emphasized that the old man—Adam, representing the broad amalgamation of failure and decay that “sin” actually refers to—has died while the new man—Jesus, in resurrection—has stepped beyond the sort of pervasive sin-film that so frequently weighs humanity down, dragging us toward base instinct or inaction. Paul argued that just as Jesus was adopted[1] as God’s primary heir in his baptism, so we also join in that adoption when we are baptized “into” Christ, committing ourselves to follow his pathway of love, kindness, generosity, and compassion. Because Jesus has died to the failings of human nature, he lives under God’s full anointing. Since we, in baptism, join him in that death to the old self, we too are free to live under that same anointing and power. He concluded last Sunday’s discussion by saying, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”[2]
And that’s exactly where today’s reading picks up:
“So…consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires.”[3]
Because Jesus has died to the life initially found in Adam, we who have joined ourselves to him (through baptism), ought not allow the failings and decay of our old way of being control our present actions, either. Since we, in Christ, also “died” to that old way of being, we no longer have any obligation to live under it.
At this point Paul shifts his metaphor from death and baptism/resurrection to liberation and slavery.
It’s important to note that when Paul speaks about slavery, he isn’t necessarily thinking about the same thing we as Americans understand as slavery. In Paul’s day, a majority of the Roman Empire’s populace was what they considered to be slaves. However, very few were subject to permanent enslavement. Criminals and prisoners of war would fall into that category, but chattel slavery—racially-designated lifelong ownership of one person (and their descendants) by another—didn’t really become entrenched in Western Society until the late 1400’s, when it formally justified itself under the Doctrine of Discovery and its authorization to abuse “savage” populations around the world.
In 1st Century Rome, slavery frequently functioned along the lines of what we would call contract work. In exchange for food, shelter, and training, along with a lump sum of money at the end of the agreed upon period, an individual would “enslave” themselves to a patron or wealthy household. If their “master” mistreated or abused them,[4] they had some legal recourse to end the contract early. If they liked working for a particular family, they might re-up their contract or even enter into a permanent agreement. But unlike today’s employment market, you could really only work for one party at a time—hence Jesus’ comments about “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise”—what we would understand as ignore—“the other.”[5] You can’t live in two different houses at the same time. You can’t eat meals in two locations at the same time. You can’t give your full attention and effort to two unconnected authorities at the same time. Someone will always get the better part of you and your work, and that is who truly “owns” your life.
That’s what Paul’s pointing at in verse 13: “Haven’t you all realized that, through your compliance, you all provide yourselves as ‘slaves’ to that with which you comply?”[6] We choose, whether through habit or active intent, who or what we listen to, and our actions always reveal that reality. This is what Jesus is talking about when he says, “the tree is known by its fruit.”[7] People can—and do—fill their mouths and minds with talk of God and Jesus and love. They’ve written thousands of pages with theological ramblings and justifications for their behaviors. But actions are what reveal the truth. Deception and misinformation are still lies whether or not you think they’ll lead to a favorable end. Cruelty remains inhumane whether or not someone claims to have a “good” reason for it. Oppression and violence continue to be evil even when people snatch at verses to try to convince others that it’s “God’s will.”[8] People can talk all they want about how they hate or reject the burdens of “sin.” But if you keep bowing to its weight or complying with its demands, you’re still serving it—still slaving for the system you claim to oppose.
This is a sharp warning for us as Modern American Christians. True Christianity is demonstrated through love and service—through following Jesus’ teaching and example in caring for others, in uplifting and supporting those viewed as lesser, in choosing the best outcome for others even when it leads to a negative one for the self. What you think—the doctrines and dogmas you live by, the behavioral demands you place upon other people—none of that has ever overwritten the reality of what it means to be a Christian. Christians are recognizable solely by their fruit—how their lives better those around them.
This can be a scary realization. Looking at yourself—honestly examining your behavior and motivations, the outcomes of the actions and movements and policies you support[9]—is rarely an easy thing. But it is important to do. Each of us needs to look at our own lives—not just what we think is true but what we actually do, the motivations that lead us to those choices, and even our comfortable, long-term preferences and partnerships. Then we need to ask, does this honestly lead to life, not just for me, but for those around me? Are my choices negatively affecting others? What among the things society has taught me to think are “what the Bible says” or “God’s will” actually causing harm to people? Am I still enslaving myself to sin—to the failure and decay that coats and manipulates all of human society?
Maybe the answer is, no—I am working to live in harmony with Jesus’ example of love, mercy, kindness, and generosity. If so, great! Keep on going! But maybe what you see leads you to question yourself and your actions, past or present. If so, I realize it may not feel like it, but honestly, that’s equally great! We can’t change—we can’t grow—if we don’t recognize where there’s room for growth. We can’t create a different outcome if we keep complying with sin, in any of its forms. We can’t further consecrate ourselves to God—which what Paul means when he talks about “sanctification”[10]—if we don’t ever consider and exercise the parts of our lives that are still behaving as if they’re dead.
The Bible describes liberation from sin as God’s gift, but that doesn’t mean we can sit around and be passive, waiting for God to magically fix everything. We both participate in and demonstrate our freedom through repentance—through change. And that isn’t some sort of one-time fix; we’re called to keep changing. And that’s something we all have the ability to do, even when it doesn’t necessarily feel easy. This ongoing change is the life—the vitality—that God calls us toward in verse 23. When we join Jesus in his death to sin, when we turn from our own selfish pathways to walk the ones he already lined out for us, we breathe God’s own Breath and gain the opportunity to partake in God’s own animating energy—that which is Life itself—an energy that supports us in our growth, that reaches forward with us, that allows us to join Jesus in resurrection even now, free from the confines and beyond the control of sin, thriving not only as individuals but as a community beyond the reach of failure and decay.
The choice is ours.
“So…consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires.”
[1] Roman adoption involved a public agreement between two adult men wherein a “Son” was chosen to be the “Father’s” formal heir—the next pater familias. Even with a natural heir, a Father could adopt someone outside the family. Changing the heir from the eldest son to another male family member—including younger siblings—fell into this same category of “adoption.”
[2] Romans 6:11 | All Bible quotations are from the NRSVue unless otherwise noted.
[3] Romans 6:11-12
[4] Especially in cases of lasting physical harm
[5] Matthew 6:24
[6] Romans 6:16 | My translation.
[7] Matthew 12:33
[8] Such behavior also violates the Third Commandment.
[9] Not just the theory of what they could do but the reality of what they actually accomplish.
[10] Romans 6:20 & 22